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The Northamptonshire Viewpoint:
76 for Ricardo Vasconcelos in Thursday’s fifty over friendly capped off a productive three days at Trent Bridge for Northamptonshire.
The squad travelled to Nottingham on Tuesday and played nearly 300 overs of red and white ball cricket on a newly developed ‘hybrid’ pitch, which is a combination of natural grass and yarn.
“It’s been a great few days, the weather was great and it’s good to be back outside” Assistant First Team Coach Phil Rowe said.
“It was like a middle of the season pitch rather than early season pitch which was good, it was tougher to get the ball to nip around and it made discipline more important.
No-one in England’s ever played on one before and it behaved really well, it was a good practice pitch.”
The scorecards certainly suggest the hybrid pitch performed well, with 1,500 runs scored and a number of Northants batsmen passing 50. Curran (59), Procter (54 and 50*), Vasconcelos (76) and Cobb (79) all raised the bat, with Keogh reaching 40 on two occasions.
“It was nice to get some time out in the middle before the season starts, get a bit of confidence going into the first few games and carry that on throughout the season” Vasconcelos said of his performance on Thursday.
“We’re all positive, there’s a lot of positives to take out of the games, everyone’s looking forward to getting going” he said.
Head Coach David Ripley was also pleased with what he saw at Trent Bridge.
“People had time in the middle and bowlers got overs in their legs so all in all we had a really good three days.
There were quite a few lads who had a good three days, the next game isn’t far away so you want guys coming back feeling like their getting into a bit of knick” he said.
“It’s about sharpening the pencil a little bit, the Middlesex game is looming and it’s perhaps the last chance for lads to really make sure they get their name on the team sheet.”
Back in Nottingham, reunited with Luke Fletcher.
Day 1 v Northamptonshire
Northants 198/4 60 ov
Notts 130/3 30 ov
Day 2
Notts 400 60 ov Paul Coughlin 61, Steven Mullaney 54 Retired, Chris Nash 50, Samit Patel 44, Joe Clarke 44
Northants 150/2 30 ov
10.30 AM start as we're still in GMT
Northamptonshire 310/6 Ricardo Vasconcelos 76 Luke Procter 50* Steven Mullaney 3/38
Notts 313/6 of 47.4 ov Ben Slater 146
Notts won by 4 wickets
Sadly the notts web page has no info at all about todays efforts v nhants in the friendly game today. I couldn't go but would like to hear something
ReplyDeleteThanks
ReplyDeleteUpdates have been published throughout the day on the Trent Bridge Twitter feed as opposed to the website.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon. I've not ever done twitter but I suppose now I will have to yield to it's power!
ReplyDeleteThe Notts Web Page DOES have details.
ReplyDeleteHales and Moores were both out to 'soft' dismissals in the pre-Season Limited Overs match yesterday - Hales will probably never learn to restrain himself, he has a real weakness in getting out to silly shots whilst Moores needs to be careful not to follow in his footsteps. Hales has given up on red ball cricket for now (as has Gurney) to chase the 'big bucks' in the 'hit-it-and-run' competitions - Moores has yet to prove himself before thinking that that may be the route for him. I think that Hales may have probably seen his England days come to an end and will make his money playing for more minor Teams in more minor Competitions around the world. Several Seasons ago I thought that he was a prodigeous talent but his many poor Innings interspersed with some really good ones has just not seen him fulfill that talent. Just my opinion.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you at the Home of cricket PM. Junior Moores shot selection is sometimes baffling, I agree. But he is only young, still learning the game and has been brought up in an era of smashing the white ball for boundaries. Baz needs a good 2019 again for Notts to remind the supporters of what a brilliant white ball player he undoubtedly is. Yes, he can be a bit streaky with his form but players like him and Jason Roy etc play a high risk game and always back themselves to hit the boundary option. If the shot is not executed properly, yes, the dismissal often does look a soft one
DeleteYou almost persuade me to renew my Notts membership! I know from your own passion for Notts just how much you take the 'highs' and 'lows' to heart and that Notts means a very great deal to you - you, too, are an absolute credit.
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